Wales Reintroduce u/19 Age Grade

Wales has reintroduced the u/19 age group after an absence of 10 years. Wales who until recently used September the 1st as a decider for age grading has since moved to the more international accepted date of the 1st of January. This excluded a lot of boys from the u/18 age group competitions as well as the all-important academy structures in place.

Coach Chris Horsman said after looking at the current age banding it was obvious that a lot of talented boys was excluded from international rugby due to being u/19 and said it was a very important year in the development of a rugby player's career.

In introducing the u/19 age group Wales are looking to broaden the selection base and even out the jump from u/18 to u/20 age groups. It was also important for the coaches to keep u/19 players part of the development pathway to senior international rugby.